A study due to be released on Monday is expected to take both Israel and the Palestinians - but especially the latter - to task for how they portray the other side in school textbooks. The project, conducted by researchers in the United States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, was funded by the U.S. State Department.

In the past few months Vladimir Putin has terminated the work in Russia of the U.S. Agency for International Development, ended American adoptions of Russian children and, most damagingly, drastically reduced the audience and credibility of U.S. broadcaster Radio Liberty, driving a wedge between it and some of Russia’s most renowned human rights activists and journalists.

John Kerry’s overwhelming confirmation as the next U.S. secretary of state presents a welcome opportunity to consider what the point of the job is. Now that Hillary Clinton has left Foggy Bottom for a well-earned rest, it’s worth stating that public diplomacy — even of the remarkably successful kind that she embodied — was not Thomas Jefferson’s idea of being the country’s chief diplomat, nor, one suspects, Clinton’s.

Audiences in Mali can now get the latest news from the Voice of America (VOA) on an FM transmitter that went on the air today — part of a stepped-up response to the Malian crisis by the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Despite Africa’s uneven progress, I remained deeply and profoundly optimistic about Africa’s future. This optimism is grounded in expanding democracy, improved security, rapid economic growth, and greater opportunities that exist for all of Africa’s people. It is clear to me as well as to many others that the 21st century will not only be shaped in Beijing and Washington, but also in Pretoria, Abuja, Nairobi, and Addis.

The Department of State sponsors Fulbright-mtvU Fellowships to promote music as a global force for promoting mutual understanding. Fellows are chosen through a multi-tiered, merit-based selection process including reviews by U.S. and foreign academic leaders and area experts. The final selection is made by the presidentially-appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

U.S. Olympians Jessica Mendoza and Ruby Rojas traveled to Nicaragua today to participate in a week-long initiative to empower women and girls through sports. For the first time, the U.S. State Department—in partnership with USA Softball and the Nicaraguan Softball Federation (FENISOFT)—will hold a series of softball clinics for Nicaraguan girls ages 14-25.